Editorial
Child trafficking
A social evil that needs to be rooted out
UNNERVING reports of children being kidnapped and trafficked across borders keep appearing in the media, almost with an uncanny regularity. When we hear that those unfortunate children are taken to various destinations to work as bonded labour or sex trade, in case of girls, we cannot but express our deep concern at the existence of the evil in our society. According to a study of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers' Association (BNWLA), around 25,000 women and children are trafficked out of the country every year. Children from poor background in villages and city slums remain as targets of traffickers as they lack constant parental supervision and social security. Usually they are allured away with fake offers of good job and a life of comfort.
Keeping in view the fact that most of the trafficking incidents take place in the border areas, experts at a seminar titled "Combating child trafficking: Context Bangladesh citizen's role" stressed the need for forming community awareness building or watch committees comprising border guards, union parishad members and NGOs to contain the menace. The local bodies should particularly become proactive in reaching out to the vulnerable families, mostly the ultra poor, in finding work or employment for the adult male and female members. We believe the idea of conducting a national survey on child trafficking to collect authentic data would help in formulating a national plan of action.
The problem covers the entire country; as such, it would be impossible for the government alone to address the issue. All the stakeholders should come under one banner to take up the challenges and find effective solutions. The media of the country can be utilised in a structured manner for creating awareness among the people about human trafficking.
Human trafficking is no doubt a vicious social malady, not only in Bangladesh, but also in the entire region. The SAARC countries have given due recognition to the problem and are cooperating with one another in combating it at the field level. We strongly advocate for undertaking prompt, long-term and concerted measures to root out the evil from all societies in the region. We hope the government in Bangladesh will give special attention to the issue on an urgent basis.
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